Ribery to miss start of season

Cause for optimism

The 32-year-old winger has been in a cast since suffering an injury to his right ankle in the second leg of last season's UEFA Champions League quarter-final against FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Although Guardiola is optimistic about the Frenchman’s recovery, the 44-year-old tactician confirmed at Friday’s press conference in Beijing that Ribery will miss the champions’ clash with Hamburger SV on 14 August.

"He won’t be ready for the first game of the season," said Guardiola, who will lead Bayern’s first training session of their summer tour of China later on Friday. "But [the injury] is getting better and I’m optimistic."

Guardiola and his players will spend a week in China as part of the Bundesliga World Tour 2015. The Bundesliga champions are due to face Valencia CF (18 July), FC Internazionale Milano (21 July) and FC Guangzhou Evergrande (23 July) during their stay in the Far East, before returning to Munich on 24 July.

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